1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to doors, particularly to doors having their axis at one side and provided with a torque rod for self-closing, and more particularly to hinge pin sockets and torque rod anchors for commercial refrigerator doors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Presently, many commercial refrigerator doors which are designed to swing open and closed about a side pivot axis, are hinged at their top by means such as a hinge pin which protrudes from the top edge of the door into a hinge socket provided in the upper cabinet frame. Further, many such commercial refrigerator doors are provided with a torque rod aligned along the pivot axis having its top end fixedly secured at a point near the top of the door and having its bottom end seated in an anchor integral with the bottom cabinet frame. The mating of the bottom end of the torque rod and the anchor also serves as the bottom hinge for the door.
FIG. 2 of the drawings illustrates an example of a conventional anchor socket combined with the bottom end of a conventional torque rod. In this conventional anchor socket, the torque rod is anchored against rotational movement by the provision of circumferentially spaced holes into which a pin is inserted to prevent rotation after the proper torque has been obtained by rotating the end with a convenient tool. These conventional torque rod adjustment devices are well-known to those skilled in the art.
However, this conventional means of providing the desired torque to the torque rod has many inherent disadvantages. One, the use of the pin mechanism is difficult and cumbersome to use and to re-adjust at a later time. Secondly, the pin torque rod adjuster, because of its incremental adjustment positions, is incapable of being adjusted to the exact desired torque.
An additional drawback in the use of a conventional anchor socket is that its location on the cabinet is fixed. Quite frequently, and particularly with older doors, the doors begin to sag under the weight of the door. This sagging results in the structural members of the door no longer being in a parallel relationship with the cabinet. This, besides being unsightly, can result in a poor seal between the door and its cabinet thereby causing loss of cooling in a refrigerator environment.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new torque rod adjustment device for use in doors.
A further object of this invention is to provide a new door hinge mechanism.
Another object of this invention is to provide a combined adjustable door hinge pin socket and adjustable torque rod adjustment device.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a torque rod adjustment device which allows continuous and convenient adjustment of the torque, wherein the torque rod assembly serves as one of the vertical hinges.
Another object of this invention is to provide a door hinge pin socket which is laterally adjustable to allow changing the door's pivot axis and thereby eliminate any sag in the door.
The foregoing objects and others will become apparent to those skilled in the art and will be described in the following description of the invention.